Thoughts and suggestions from the Library staff at Tri-County Technical College, Pendleton, SC.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Friday the 13th

Sorry, the blog has been a bit silent this summer. So let's start it back with a bang! Do you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia? And in case you don't know what that means, it is fear of Friday the 13th. Remember that, it could be on a crossword puzzle coming your way soon.

Other Friday the 13th facts (thanks Credo database!)

A number of theories have been proposed to explain the Friday the 13
superstition including:

In the Christian tradition, Fridays and the number 13 are both considered
unlucky. (What happened to TGIF – Thank Goodness It’s Friday?!)

Friday is the day on which Jesus was crucified, and some theologians have
suggested that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday.

There were thirteen people at the Last Supper (Jesus and his twelve
disciples), and Judas Iscariot is said to have either been the thirteenth to
arrive at the feast, or the first leave it, on his way to betray Jesus. (Too
bad Jason wasn’t there…)

Thomas W Lawson’s self-published novel Friday, the Thirteenth is
said to be the primary origin of the modern fear of the date.

Friday the 13th is also bad for business generally: the Stress Management
Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, estimates that in the
USA between 800 and 900 million dollars’ worth of business are lost on Friday
the 13th because people refuse to travel or go to work.

In Greece and the Spanish-speaking world, Tuesday the 13th is the day that
brings bad luck.